Newcomb says farewell to basketball

Dylan Newcomb said farewell to basketball on Saturday by representing Waynesville High School one last time.

Now the former three-sport Tiger athlete narrows his focus to just one sport – collegiate football.

On July 6 Newcomb participated in the 19th annual Gerald Pilz & Friends All-Star Games, held on the campus of the College of the Ozarks, near Branson.

This year the Pilz All-Star format was tweaked, as there were three boys' teams – the red team, white team and blue team – and each team played one half against the two other squads, separated by halves of the girls' all-star game.Newcomb played on the blue squad.

At Waynesville High Newcomb was a three-year starter in football at quarterback and receiver on offense and in the secondary on defense. He also was a multi-year starter for the Tiger basketball and baseball squads.

He said Saturday's action was a fun time, but not necessarily a sad one now that his basketball career is officially over.

"It's just turning the page," Newcomb said. "It was a good journey. Now you've just got to move on. And I'm moving on."

Moving on, that is, to St. Louis.

After a lengthy deliberation period, Newcomb finally chose to attend and play football at Washington University, a NCAA Division III program located in St. Louis. A two-year all-state defensive back in high school, Newcomb figures to play in the Washington University secondary as well.

An outstanding student, Newcomb was considering several military academies and Ivy League schools while waiting for what he called his No. 1 choice to make an acceptable academic scholarship offer. Washington can't offer athletic scholarships, so the academic package had to be right.

Newcomb had also been considering Air Force, Navy, Yale, Missouri S&T and Carnegie Mellon, among other schools. In fact, he gave a verbal commitment to Air Force. He later rescinded that commitment in favor of Washington University, where he plans to major in bio-medical engineering.

"Wash U. was my No. 1 choice at the very beginning," he said. "I'm in love with the school. I was just waiting for the scholarship that I (eventually) received."

Now that basketball and baseball are in the rear-view mirror, Newcomb is concentrating on football only. He is to report to the start of Washington University football practice on Aug. 13.

The Washington University Bears won their final four games to finish with a 5-5 overall record in 2012. Larry Kindbom is starting his 25th season as Bears' head coach, and 31st overall. One of the Washington assistant coaches is former Missouri S&T receiving great Brett Fischer, starting his fourth season with the Bears.

Newcomb has already been assigned No. 10 with the Bears, the same number he wore during the football, basketball and baseball seasons at Waynesville.

"They're looking at me as a defensive back," Newcomb said. "I'm just looking to play where I can – cornerback, safety, special teams. Wherever they need me. I just want to get on the field and prepare for the game.

"As long as I can get on the field, I'm happy."

It seemed he never got off the field at Waynesville, except when he was injured. On offense he was either throwing the passes or serving as one of the key receivers in the Tigers' spread offense. And on defense he usually shadowed the opponents' top receiving threat.

"I'm just excited to be concentrating on one sport," Newcomb said. "Now that I can, I'm hoping to do some great things in football."